Beer: Reviews & Ratings

Poured into a pint. Enjoyed while visiting folks in SD for Christmas 2011A: Clear, very dark brown liquid. Light tan, thick and creamy head has great head retention.S: Sublime. Layers of tropical fruit and pine. Dank weed aroma. Just shy (thankfully) of soapy.T: Much roastier than the aroma. Bitter nonetheless, but not much hop flavor. A lot of piney notes actually though. Very dark chocolate, similar to a RIS but without the alcohol. So fresh and so clean.M: Fairly dry and bitter. Strongly bitter, in fact maybe a tad over the top.O: Quite nice. Hoppiness is almost too much surprisingly. I'd buy again and seek out. I'd have another. (645 characters)

Pour: Absolute midnight. Maybe the darkest beer I've ever had, even more so than an imperial stout. Finger of khaki head that recedes to a rim. Light lacing.

Smell: Wow. I did not expect grapefruit this beer, but there it is. Dry-hopping at its finest. Lots of pine and some roasty malt plays in the back.

Taste: Lots of bitter pine and floral hops up from, with a roasted maltiness through the rest. Finish it bitter, but with no distinguishable hop profile because the roasted malt aspect is the main leftover flavor.

Mouth: This is where the malt bill really flexes. Pretty full, but very pleasant. No alcohol.

Overall: The first time I've enjoyed a Black IPA. Excited to try more from the style now that I "got" this one. Definitely get it if you like Stone beer and see it on tap. (840 characters)

Pours an opaque black with a foamy tan head that settles to a film on top of the beer. Foamy rings of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of dark roasted malt, slight cocoa, and some fresh herbal hop aromas. Taste is much the same with a medium amount of herbal hop bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a very good beer that is super drinkable but it tastes better than it smells in my opinion. (543 characters)

poured into a tulip glass...to the nose there roated malt. roasted chocolate, and subtle hints of grapefruit as it opens up. color is an great deep dark hue, with consistant color sepration. it stays dark...good lacing on my glass. great robust flavors with ovetones of nuts and spices..not for anyone. trully a beer drinkers beer (330 characters)

Presented in a 12 oz sniffer. This beer pours a cola-esque brown with a massive 3 inch head that leaves tons of lacing down the sides of the glass. It has a very viscous look to it but it doesn't come off in the mouthfeel. The one thing that bothers me is that it really doesn't look like cask beer. The aroma is very hoppy. No shit right. Lots of citrus. Orange peel and ruby grapefruit. The flavor is also very hoppy also. Up front hits big citrus pith. Orange and grapefruit. Underlying is a nice pine. The mouthfeel is lacking. Most cask beer has a nice creaminess to it. This doesn't. Finishes dry, low carbonation. Overall its good but I think dry hopping this beer negates a lot of the positive characteristics of the bottle. To me, this is why Stone's motto of "Throw more hops at it, its just going to taste better" is off. Instead of being a curious and complex brew, its just hoppy. (932 characters)

HOLY CRAP! best beer i have had this year. had a couple at the stone domination event at Aces & Ales in Las Vegas. Anything from Stone with a DDH attached to it is a winner.

beautiful color...dark, blackish-redish-amber-ish (can you see it?). light head...not white, but very distinct from the beer.

HOPPY! aromatic as can be...one of those beer you smell and do a little happy beer dance. yup....that good. stong citrus and floral...herby like Humulus's cousin. some pine as well, but in the back ground. I'd say balanced, but only if balanced meant firing all hop cylinders at once.

tasted incredible...basically ordered another after the first taste. bitterly delicious with a balancing malt taste (black ale, after all). you get the hops up front, agressively...and then hops finish it of. in the middle is the delicious black maltiness.

pour was dark black with a light creamy head. had an oil like look but not in a stout way if that makes any sense.

tons of citrus on the nose. nice deep bitterness with a sweet grapefruit.

lots of grapefruit on this. the double dry hopping really made the hops quite dominating. a nice deep bitterness with a sweet grapefruit just like on the nose. the dark body really holds up well and has a nice light roasted flavor.

very full and thick. a bit rich. medium carbonation.

this was nice, very hoppy as i had anticipated. loved every sip. (543 characters)

5-6 oz. tasting sample at Kelleher's in Peoria in a mini-pint glass. One of the on-tap offerings from the Stone release party on April 5th, 2011.

I've had regular Sublimely on-tap and I wasn't the biggest fan of that one, so I was a little wary of trying this one.

Pours an extremely-dark brown, not fully black but about as damn close as you can get. Light brown head that doesn't stick around too long (probably because of the glass) with so-so lacing.

The aroma offers up the same characters as regular Sublimely, but more of it. More floral, citrus, and pine notes with a real westcoast profile. Underlying are some mellow spices and a slight caramel malt for a little balance in the smell. No heat detection here.

There's actually less bitterness in the drink than I was expecting. Lots of citrus (orange peel, lemon zest) and more pine essence. The medium-length finish feels very relaxed, which I like. Slight heat in the drink.

Mouthfeel is okay, feels maybe a little under-carbonated for the style. Medium body with some smoothness.

Drinkability isn't too bad considering the double hops. Stone did a nice job handling all of that potential biting bitterness and offered up a great aroma (which was a little better than the taste). Again, not much ABV presence throughout so it wouldn't have been too hard to get through multiple pints. (1,355 characters)

Just when you thought that IPA's can't get any more bitter or resiny... this!

Exactly like the original Stone 11th/Sublimely Self-Righteous, the beer pours a malty-viscous pour while building a dense and creamy head. The beer is dark brown while deep crimson low-lights allow light to penetrate the edges. Lightly tanned foam clings hard to the glass for classic Belgin lace with every sip.

Hops dominate the rim of the glass with sharply distinct grapefruit and pine aromas. Background notes of charred toast or grain reinforce the aromas without interferring with the hoppy nose. As the beer warms, lighter notes of burnt molasass and bitter cocoa rise.

Flavors follow suit with the sticky, sappy flavors of pine resin, grapefruit skins, sharp grasses, and acrid toast. The beer is every bit as bitter and bitey as the hop flavors are vibrant. Bullyish hops are tempered only by the dry-malt flavor of cocoa and heavy toast, offering a timid sweetness of scorched syrups. Lightly solventy in the finish and reminds me of nail polish remover; oddly, the taste accents the grassy hop flavor and bitterness well.

Full bodied, creamy and robust, the beer's mouthfeel is lush and nearly chewy at the onset. A quick procession through bitting bitterness, near astringency, and toasty dryness lands the textures with a minty evaporation, alcoholic warmth, and an acrid dryness that slams shut on the flavor. Only the strong citrus bitterness lingers in aftertaste.

I cannot recall having a beer with more bitternes or aggression in regard to hop content and character. The dryness of toasted barley plays well with the aggressive hop bitterness and aids in amplifying its intensity. As complex as the beer is with its power, it doesn't try to introduce too many elements to the flavor profile that would have muddled its flavor. A very well done beer, but you must be a serious hop head to appreciate. (1,901 characters)

On tap at stone winter storm: This beer was really good. I didn't expect this to be much better than normal but compared to the regular Sublimely Self-Righteous the double hopped has the perfect balance of hops and dark roasty malts. The hops are more up front but still has the smooth malty taste right there with it. (319 characters)

A - Pours murky black with a small film of white head leaving thick sheets of lacing down the glass.

S - TONS of grassy hops mix well with the dark roasted malt. Hints of raisins, chocolate, and other dark flavors offer a bit of balance but this one is all about the hops.

T - Piles upon piles of grassy hops up front never really die down. Some dark roasted malt, and flavors similar to the nose, help keep things balanced as much as they can but this one is really all about the hops. One of the best black IPA's on steroids.

Very dark grayish-brown with a hint of cordovan, but opaque (at least when held up to the brightest lights in the bar) body with a thin sticky desert sand/khaki head. Superior retention, nice sandy lacing, and a light glassy varnish of legs.

Just put this one on tap and I don't have enough adjectives to describe how much I love it. I already love the original blend of SSR and the added hop of the DDH just blows me away. Those that thought the original was just too malty and smoky need to try this version. This beer has the perfect amount of citrus and bitterness (and by perfect I mean OVERLOADED) that I look for in Doule IPA's. Any chance and Every chance you have to drink this beer you had better take advantage! (480 characters)

A: The pour is the typical dark brown/black color of Sublimely Self Righteous with a rocky off-white head and some rings of lacing.

S: The hops are just overpowering in this beer. I had it a couple times on tap throughout the night and it was easily the best Stone beer available at this event. Incredible pine, grapefruit, and pineapple aromas along with the subtle roast that makes this beer what it is.

T: Fresh, pungent citrus hops along with a slightly sweet tropical fruit (mostly pineapple) character. Just amazingly fresh and hoppy with only the slightest be of roast and malt based bitterness. Plenty of pine and grapefruit rind bitterness to go around as well.

M: The body is medium and so is the carbonation. A bit of bitterness lingers on the tongue.

1L growler filled today and poured into a snifter. The beer appears very dark brown with a crimson tinge, a large pillowy light brown head, excellent retention, and nice lacing.

The aroma is a mixture of pine resin, grapefruit flesh and rind, orange, earth, and a light roasted malt character. This boasts huge aromatics. Excellent, the hop character is gargantuan.

The flavor is very bitter, with huge grapefruit pith and pine resin notes. I haven't had regular SSR for a while, and I know dry hopping doesn't add bitterness, but I'll be damned if this isn't noticeably more bitter than regular SSR; the enamel has been ripped from my teeth. A light roasted malt character is perceivable in the background, but it's dwarfed by the hops. The finish exhibits a high level of bitterness with a strong alcohol presence, citrus, pine, and a light roasted quality. (872 characters)